Pizza Français

When Monday falls on Bastille Day, the solution is to make a French-style pizza. Not frozen Stouffer's, but a real homemade French style pizza.

This is another recipe made up entirely of Trader Joe's ingredients. The main characteristic of French style pizza is the use of non-mozzarella cheese, garlic, and herbs. My main components are Whole Wheat Pizza Crust, Fat Free Pizza Sauce, and Grated Quattro Formaggio (Parmesean, Asiago, Fontina and Provelone) along with fresh mushrooms, fresh garlic, and frozen peppers. Some versions also use ham or anchovies, but this has no meat products whatsoever.

Pizza Français

Trader Joe's Base Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
Fat Free Pizza Sauce
Shredded Quattro Formaggio (Parmesean, Asiago, Fontina and Provelone)

Toppings:
Frozen Melange-a-Tois (green, yellow, red bell peppers)
Fresh Mushrooms (button or cremini)
Fresh Garlic (4-6 cloves minced)
Other Meats or Veggies

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Let the crust sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, then roll out on a pizza stone (if you don't have a pizza stone, buy one first!).

While the oven is heating up, put the peppers, mushrooms, and garlic in an oven save pan with some oil, and drop in the oven to roast. The toppings are ready when the oven hits temperature. Once it does, drizzle some olive oil and dried herbs (parsley, oregano, basil) on the crust, then prime crust by cooking for 6-8 minutes before adding toppings.

Then remove the crust from the oven and add a small amount of sauce, followed by the roasted peppers, mushrooms, garlic, and other toppings, and then the cheese. There's no need to measure ingredients, but keep the quantities down.

Bake in the oven for ten minutes, until its all hot and bubbly, then let it rest for five more minutes. Cut into slices and serve. Vive la pissaladiere!